One of the biggest problems in the world right now is that not enough people look up at the stars. There is something special that happens when your eyes encounter those little balls of twinkly lights staring down at you. For a moment, you can feel so lost, yet so found. Happy, but also maybe sad. Near, and very far. Surrounded, yet all the more lonely. Perhaps you feel nothing at all. Either way, even if you don’t know it, you are at your most vulnerable as you stare directly into the unknown. It can become pretty frightening if you really sit there and try to think about what you are actually looking at.
Bear with me.
Courtesy: Space Facts
Okay, so *spoiler alert* there is only one star in our solar system. That star happens to be our sun. We know her, we love her, and sometimes we wish we could see more of her, but alas, we know she’s there. But this means, the next closest star is located outside of our solar system, which according to NASA, extends way beyond Pluto (who is still the best little planet no matter what society tries to tell him). And Pluto is pretty far away. 39.5 astronomical units away from the sun to be exact. And if one astronomical unit is equal to 92,955,807.3 miles, then Pluto is A LOT OF MILES FROM THE SUN. So these stars we see, with our own eyes, from the grounds of Earth, are farther away than we can even imagine. Yes, we have the numbers, but can you right now actually fathom how far 92,955,807.3 miles is? I can barely walk one mile without needed a nap afterwards. BUT THEN. Here’s the kicker. We can STILL SEE THOSE LITTLE STINKERS TWINKLE. AKA WE CAN SEE THEIR GASES AS THEY EXPLODE. So these far away balls of gas are not so little as they appear and have to be bigger than what our little brains could even envision. And then don’t get me started on how light travels and how what we are actually looking up at might not be what is actually still up there. And what about all those planets we also can see. And what about all the stuff we can’t see? WHAT IS OUT THERE?! WHERE ARE WE?! WHO ARE WE?!
Okay, maybe I’m not doing the best at selling this argument. But after walking around as humans all day, every day thinking we are larger than life, sometimes it might not be the worst idea to remember how small we actually are. To acknowledge that there’s something out there bigger, and greater than all of us. You can believe or not believe whatever that may be. However, there is no denying the fact that outside of Earth, there is a whole lot of space filled with a whole lot mystery and wonder. So tonight, take a step back and go look up. Go see what you can discover. (Sorry if you live somewhere like me where it’s cloudy 12/10 nights and is -27 degrees on a regular basis).